Yemen: Two Years On, No Accountability

(Sanaa) –Yemen’s government should create a
commission of inquiry into serious human rights violations
by the previous government and prosecute those responsible,
Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2014. The government
should also pass legislation to end child marriage and
reform laws that discriminate against women.

In 2012,
Yemen’s parliament granted immunity from prosecution to
former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had held power for
33 years, and to his aides. President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi
has not followed up on promises to pass a transitional
justice law, impanel a commission of inquiry into government
abuses during the uprising in 2011, or create any other
mechanisms to provide accountability for past violations or
prevent future ones.

“The government needs to address
the past, both to provide justice for the victims and to
make sure the abuses stop once and for all,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and
North Africa director.“For two years the Hadi
administration has ignored the demands for justice from
people harmed by the Saleh government.”

In the 667-page
world report, its 24th edition, Human Rights Watch reviews
human rights practices in more than 90 countries. Syria’s
widespread killings of civilians elicited horror but few
steps by world leaders to stop it, Human Rights Watch said.
A reinvigorated doctrine of “responsibility to protect”
seems to have prevented some mass atrocities in Africa.
Majorities in power in Egypt and other countries have
suppressed dissent and minority rights. And Edward
Snowden’s revelations about US surveillance programs
reverberated around the globe.

A six-month national
dialogue began in March to make recommendations to guide the
upcoming drafting of a new constitution. The process has
involved 565 representatives of political parties and
various segments of society, including women and youth.
Working groups on transitional justice and rights and
freedoms have recommended improvements in rights
protections. The dialogue has continued past the six-month
timetable.

Media freedom has greatly improved since
President Hadi took office in February 2012, but there has
been an increase in assaults by security forces and various
armed groups on journalists and bloggers. The government’s
failure to investigate these attacks and hold those
responsible to account has called into question the
government’s commitment to promoting human rights, Human
Rights Watch said.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
(AQAP) carried out dozens of deadly bombings and other
attacks on Yemeni security forces during 2013. The United
States carried out at least 23 drone strikes on alleged
members of the Al-Qaeda-linked group from January through
November, killing between 95 and 162 people, research groups
who track the strikes reported. But neither government has
reported or confirmed the number of civilian casualties.

Women face severe
discrimination in law and in practice in Yemen, Human Rights
Watch said. Women are not allowed to marry without the
permission of their male guardians, usually a father or
brother. They are denied equal rights to divorce,
inheritance, and child custody, and a lack of legal
protection leaves them exposed to domestic and sexual
violence.

Child marriage remains widespread. During 2013,
doctors and the media reported the deaths of child brides as
young as eight following intercourse or childbirth. Yemen
has not legislated a minimum age of marriage, though the
National Dialogue’s Rights and Freedoms Working Group in
November recommended establishing 18 as the minimum
age.

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